Inaugural holder of Paul Volcker
Chair in Behavioral Economics named by Maxwell School of Syracuse University
The Maxwell
School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University is pleased to
announce that public finance and tax policy expert Leonard E. Burman has been
named the first holder of the Paul Volcker Chair in Behavioral Economics. Burman is currently professor of public
administration and international affairs at the Maxwell School and director of
the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center in Washington, DC, which he co-founded.
For more
than 30 years, Burman has held high-level positions in a range of academic,
federal government, and public policy organizations. He served as deputy assistant secretary for
tax analysis at the Department of the Treasury and as senior analyst at the
Congressional Budget Office where he wrote influential studies on the tax
treatment of health insurance and capital gains, the low-income housing credit,
individual retirement accounts, investment tax credits, and fringe
benefits.
Burman is
past president of the National Tax Association; co-author of Taxes in America: What Everyone Needs to
Know; and author of The Labyrinth of Capital Gains Tax Policy: A
Guide for the Perplexed and numerous articles, studies, reports, and op-eds.
He is a research associate at the
National Bureau of Economic Research.
His recent
research has examined U.S. federal budget dynamics, tax expenditures, financing
long-term care, the individual alternative minimum tax, the changing role of
taxation in social policy, and tax incentives for savings, retirement, and
health insurance. He testifies regularly
before Congress on tax and budget policy issues, most recently at a March 2014
Senate Committee on Finance hearing on “Policies to Support the Middle Class.”
Burman, who
earned a PhD in economics from the University of Minnesota, joined the Maxwell
School in 2009 when he was appointed Daniel Patrick Moynihan Chair in Public
Affairs. “Len Burman is one of the most
widely respected voices on the intersection of fiscal and social policy,” says
Maxwell Dean James Steinberg. “His
research and writing help us understand the wider, and often unanticipated, impact
of tax and spending decisions on individuals and society, and as a result, make
it more likely that government policy will achieve its intended results. As a voice for clear and farsighted policy making,
Len is a fitting choice to hold a chair honoring Paul Volcker's remarkable
legacy.”
The Volcker
Chair was endowed by Robert Menschel, senior director at Goldman Sachs Group
and trustee emeritus of Syracuse University.
“The critically important field of behavioral economics, although
relatively new, has quickly become central to policy makers and corporate
leaders in their decision making,” observes Menschel, the author of Markets, Mobs, and Mayhem: A Modern Look at the Madness of Crowds. “Paul Volcker is the nation’s preeminent
economist who epitomizes the very best thinking in this area. Professor Len Burman is the ideal person to
fill the chair named in Paul’s honor, and the Maxwell School is the ideal
institution to carry Paul’s legacy forward.”
Volcker’s
distinguished career includes eight years as chairman of the board of governors
of the Federal Reserve under Presidents Carter and Reagan; four years as
president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York; and two years as chair of
President Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board. In addition, he served as undersecretary of
treasury for international monetary affairs and was chairman of the prominent
New York investment banking firm, J. Rothschild, Wolfensohn & Co. Volcker also chaired the National Commission
on the Public Service, which focused on the changes needed to restore vitality
and credibility to the public service.
“The appointment of Professor Len Burman to
the new Volcker Chair will enhance the strength of the Maxwell School,” Volcker
says. “Support for relevant research and
providing professional training for future public officials is critical to the
mission of the School. Burman’s career
interest in public budgeting could not be more relevant, going to the heart of
effective governance at the national, state, and local levels.”
In addition
to teaching as Volcker Chair, Burman will, in collaboration with colleagues in
Maxwell's Center for Policy Research where he is a senior research associate, organize
a major conference or lecture each year on a public policy topic drawing on the
insights and perspectives of behavioral economics.
“It is a tremendous privilege to hold a chair in
honor of Paul Volcker, a literal and figurative giant of American public policy,”
says Burman. “I look forward to the
opportunity to explore what we can learn from behavioral economics about
addressing America's economic challenges.
And I'm delighted to be renewing and reinforcing my connection with the
Department of Public Administration and International Affairs at the Maxwell
School, which has a well-earned reputation as the premier public administration
program in the nation."
05/06/14